Mistletoe

A book has influenced me most in my whole life which is not a masterwork or a book written by a famous person, but it is Mistletoe that was written by Tsai Chih-heng. I can remember clearly that I read this book the first time in 2002. A lot of things happened that year, also it was this animal year of mine, and things were complicated and could not be solved.

I can remember that I read the first book of Tsai Chih-heng which was not his famous book called the First Close Contact, it seems like a book called Irish Coffee. I have a habit of reading books which I feel an author wrote well then I would buy the rest of his/her books, like Hua Yu, Milan Kundera, Dan Brown and Khaled Hosseini. When I finished reading Irish Coffee, I read the First Close Contact, after all, I read the rest books of Tsai Chih-heng.

At that time, Mistletoe was just published a little while. I read it in April 2002. The deepest impression was a passage of the book prefaces:

My Chinese teacher was a woman teacher, her surname was Liu.

"Students, this is a composition class, let's begin to write a composition.

When she finished talking, she found a chair, sit down and began reading a book.

"Miss, what is the topic of the composition?"

It was silence for a couple of minutes in the whole classroom, finally, a classmate rose his hand and asked.

"You write your own composition…" teacher smiled, "why do you need me to decide a topic?"

"Miss…" that classmate asked again, "What type of writing we should use, narration, argumentation or lyric?

Miss Liu puts down her book and stood up: "If I live in Taipei in the future, you come to see me, I must be very happy."

Miss Liu smiled: "You think, I will care how you come to Taipei, whatever by bus, by train or by air?"

"I only want to read your earnest writing words, I don't care what kinds of form to express.

Miss Liu said this at last.

My Chinese have been always worst, it was worse that I had only examined Chinese which score was 89.5 points in the third year of middle school, and the full points were 150, which means I failed in this examination. My composition used to be bad example in the class; although I always had the courage to let the teacher used my composition to be bad example. As I went to the Normal School, my Chinese was still the same as usual, the worst subject in all the subjects. Of course, English caught up from behind to be the worst subject.

I still love reading and writing. I used to write diaries at the time in spite of the diaries seem very ridiculous right now. I keep writing all along, no matter good or bad. When I read that passage above, it lets me confirm in my heart to keep writing. It is become a habit and a method of release, even no point and no subject, and it becomes to a style of my writing.

The second harvest in this book is to learn to be simple. This is the hardest because more simple more hard. I usually think too much, and I usually think of the worst part to begin. It probably is the reason why I am self-abased. If the ending is not a tragedy, do I feel happy? It seems that I would feel a little bit excited but not happy.

This is the reason why I like to communicate with kids, they are simple, pure. Like or not, black or white, those have obvious boundaries, they don't pretend. But adults like to wear masks, they do not say straight what they really want. Not matter self-protection or hide deeper. I do not like to guess anything, because I never guess right. Human always like this, you must do the thing which you think you could not do it. When you fail too many times, you will not fail any more, due to you will never do it again at all.

If a person does not have to pretend his feeling, will the world be chaos? I am afraid this is possible, like those disgusting ISIS. We do not need too much pretending and that too complicated emotion. Like being like, dislike is disliked, it will have an accident when you dislike and pretend you like. I met tons of the accidents like these before as I am soft-hearted, after that, I had to be tough, so hurt someone once more.

In the book, the guy met two girls, one was Mingjing and another was Quan. Mingjing just liked the sun, that she gave too much nutrient to the guy until she left. In this case, I feel lucky that I have a very good friend. Whatever when or what, she always gives me support and courage. I am very thankful for her existing. That is no doubt that the pure relationship does exist in different gender.

I always to find a girl like Quan, just a glance can see through you inward, direct access to the depths of my heart of tacit understanding. The first meeting likes an old friend have a long time do not see. No matter falls in love in first sight or soul-mate, fits into the spiritual is the real appropriate. Everyone will get old, whatever pretty as a fairy or handsome as a prince, there is always a day you will become an old man or an old lady. When you over the hill, the only exist things is fits into the spiritual.

Although I do not know has the girl like Quan existed, if it doesn't, I will never put up with anyone.

Every man has his hobbyhorse, someone might think this book is nothing and might be I just read this book at that time, and I got some inspiration, I do not know.

The graph provides the difference of average house prices on five cities in two different five years when were in 1990 to 1995 and 1996 to 2002.

First of all, the trends were all increasing the house prices in average except Frankfurt in Germany. In Tokyo, it was the only on a city still not expensive than in 1989 but it increased to 2% after 1996.

Secondly, London had a vast change in last 12 years, the average prices from -7% to 12%. And New York was the second one that had significant development in the prices of houses. Also Madrid was increasing their prices but not like the cities that changed so much. However, house in Frankfurt was cheaper insignificantly than last 5 years.

To sum up, the prices on average with house were significantly higher than before. The trends of that were clear. It was definitely getting higher than last in the future.

It was two years ago that I attended a party which my students were celebrating due to graduating from high school. It was in a karaoke room, I can recall it vividly. I would have missed that party if I had worked overtime as usual.

It had been raining before I went to the party, so everyone was inside. I saw about 20 students in there when I was arriving; some of them were drinking beer, some of them were singing songs that I didn't know and others were chatting with each other. They were so happy to have finally graduated and I was grateful because I haven't seen them for a long time and it was nice to be able to see them again. They looked so grown up and had matured so quickly; I didn't recognize them at all. I chatted with everyone in that room, asked them about their lives and sung karaoke with them as well.

We had a fantastic evening and I appreciated that my lovely students had invited me to their party.

I attended my student's high school graduation last week. My student's parents did not appear on the graduation, so I perhaps like her patriarch. This was my second time to attend my student's high school graduation. I was very happy to be invited to this event.

Even through I have held an elementary school graduation, but as an audience on this event that was my second time. I quit my teacher's job two years ago. After that time, I thought I had not any chance to be present at graduation of my student. Since I have quit my last job last year, and my lovely student told me that I must appear on her graduation. I did it.

We took a lot of photos, I listened to her speech, and I watched her headmaster gave her the graduation certificate. That was so exciting for me, because it liked you were her parent and watched her grow up, then she seemed like a child became a young adult. I did not cry at that time, I felt happy only. I was so glad for her that she finished her studying in high school.

Every year, I watched my students went to the middle school when I was a teacher in the elementary school. Some students had been taught since their six years old, and they finally grew up, then they left me. That felt like you lost a lot of children who you loved so much. I felt so grateful when they came to see me again each time.

I love my students, although they will not remember me in the future. I can remember when they went to the school, what their names are and some details when they were in school.

A girl came to school for an interview with her sister. Her sister introduced her to me and told me to take care of her. When I quit my teacher's job, she, the little who was introduced by her sister, wrote an article for me. She wrote that I was the only few people who told her about dreams, but I did not remember when it happened. She wrote that I was a humble man because I always smoked out of the school and I worn the same kind of T-shirt all the time. Well, I admitted it. I had not so much friends expect my students in school and they are so friendly to me even today.

A boy, who was one of the first group of students in my teaching career, I did not like when he was a kid. It was so weird that we became friends and I did not know why. I attended to his wedding and I went to his new apartment in Spring Festival.

I can say so many things about my student. They did something good, something bad. I want to say that I love them so much and I miss them so much!

The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Version1.2)

Last night, I finished my first English novel. I read a lot, but I usually read in Chinese. I would say that was a big deal for me.

I saw a little girl talking about her experience of learning different languages on YouTube. She said that one method was reading books and articles in the original language but not the translations. She also recommended ignoring the grammatical structure and new vocabulary words while she was reading.

I followed her advice and I read the book The Perks of Being a Wallflower. This book doesn't have many new vocabulary words for me, so this is easy to read. The plot was very attractive to me. Why did I choose this book?

I like Emma Watson very much and I like her acting as well. I have seen almost all of her films. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, which stars Emma Watson, is the only movie that I haven't seen yet, so I went and watched it. It was a good film; it was touching and it resonated with passion. After I read the critical articles, I knew that this was based on a semi-autobiographical novel. The film's director was the book's writer. How surprising this is!

I started to read this book three days ago. Fortunately, this book was perfect for my first read in English. I'd like to say this was a fantastic experience, although I usually read novels translated into Chinese. This novel has appeared six times on the American Library Association's list of 10 most-frequently-challenged books, because it included sexual content, drugs and alcohol.

It was about youths' stories and about love. The author wrote about a boy called Charlie, who was in high school with no friends and needed to socialize more. Finally, he met a boy called Patrick who was gay, and a girl called Sam who was a very beautiful girl. They got together to go to the parties, smoke and play. Charlie was a special boy who had some abilities that he himself didn't know about. Like the book said "You see things. You keep quiet about them. And you understand."

The book talked about lovers, family love and love between friends. They did not concern themselves about gender, age or race. I have seen a commercial about love and I think they are the same as a Chinese person's opinion. There is an enormous difference in love between Chinese and the Western countries. We do not always say we love our parents or children or other people, because we feel ashamed to say that. The fact is that people here don't say that they love someone when they really do love them. The strange thing is that they do not want to do anything and still want people to feel their love. Quoting Sam's words, "If somebody likes me, I want them to like the real me, not what they think I am. And I don't want them to carry it around inside. I want them to show me, so I can feel it, too. I want them to be able to do whatever they want around me. And if they do something I don't like, I'll tell them." We cannot read minds; we cannot guess someone else's thoughts. So I think we need to tell someone that we love her/him and don't be shy.

When Charlie went to the hospital in the final scene, he said, "But even if we don't have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there. We can still do things." I always said that we can't choose where we are born, but we can choose how we die. The future is not certain but you can choose what path you want to go on.

Even though we come from different backgrounds, maybe poor or rich, we still have opportunities. Most of the time, we just ignore them.

I need to say thanks for State Administration of Radio Film and Television in China; they ruin all the youth movies and just don't allow the filmmakers to portray the boys and girls who love someone during their school life to have a happy ending in the movies. That's not a goddamn real world and that's fake and it's lying to everyone. Because of that, I never go to the cinema to see those kinds of movies; those make me sick.

Incidentally, I'd like to tell you guys a joke about translations. Three weeks ago, Avengers: Age of Ultron, was on the screen and I went to see it. There was a phrase, but I didn't remember who said it, it was "Son of bitch!" and the subtitle showed us the meaning was, "old buddy." I was wondering what the hell was going on!

Yes, we have 5,000 years of culture here in China. Most of the good things of our culture were destroyed in those ten years called the "Cultural Revolution". For now, we believe in nothing but money, we have no religions and no faith. What can I do about this? I assumed that it was possible to change these situations when I was a teacher, but I was unable to make a bigger difference in my society. We do not believe in love or friendship or even family like the characters in the book did. I feel insecure because I can't feel that kind of love.

But I always believe in love. Always!

P.S. I appreciate that some many people help me to correct my faults, especially Sindee, Sue and Yeahia. I think I am very lucky to know you.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Last night, I had finished my first English novel. I always read a lot. But they are all in Chinese. So I would say that is a big deal for me.

I saw a little girl talking about her experience of learning different languages in YouTube. She said that one method was reading in the original languages but not in translations. Also, ignoring the grammars and new vocabularies. So I did it. And the book's name is The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

This book has a few new vocabularies of me, so that is easy to read. The plot is very attractive either. But why I chose this book?

I like Emma Watson very much and I like her acting either. I almost saw all the films that were acted by her. I found that I had one film that I hadn't seen which was The Perks of Being a Wallflower. So I saw it. It was a good film, it was movement and it resonated. After I read the critical articles, I knew that was based on a semi-autobiographical novel. The film's director was the book's writer. How a surprising thing!

I started to read this book three days ago. Fortunately, this book was very perfect for the first read in English. I'd like to say this was a fantastic experience. Although I always read that novels translated as Chinese.

This novel has appeared six times on the American Library Association's list of 10 most-frequently-challenged books. Because of that included sexual, drugs and alcohol.

It was about youth's stories and about love. It wrote about a boy called Charlie who in high school and no friends needed to "participate". Finally, he met a boy called Patrick who was a gay, and a girl called Sam who was a very beautiful girl. They got together to go to the parties, smoke and play. Charlie was special boy, he had some abilities that he didn't know. Like the book said, "You see things. You keep quiet about them. And you understand."

It talked about many loves, such as families, friends and couples. They did not concern about gender, age or race. I have seen a commercial about loves. I think they are the same as a Chinese person's opinion. There are enormous different to love between Chinese and the western countries. We do always not say we love our parents or children or other people. Because we feel like shamed to say that. And the fact is that even people do not say that but they really love people that they are care. But the wired thing is that they always do not do anything and want people can feel their love. Quoting by Sam's word "If somebody likes me, I want them to like the real me, not what they think I am. And I don't want them to carry it around inside. I want them to show me, so I can feel it, too. I want them to be able to do whatever they want around me. And if they do something I don't like, I'll tell them." We are not all the specials, we cannot guess someone's thought. So I think we need to tell someone that we love her/him and don't be shy.

When Charlie went to hospital in the final, he said, "But even if we don't have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there. We can still do things." I always said that we can't choose where I born, but we can't choose how we die. The future is always not certain that you can choose what path you want to go. Even though we came from different levels, maybe poor or rich, but we always have opportunities. But most of the time, we just ignored it.

I need to thanks for State Administration of Radio Film and Television in China. They ruin all the youth movies. They just not allow the boys or girls love someone in school who haven't happy ending in the movies. That's goddamn not a real world and that's a fake and lying to everyone. Because of that, I never go to the cinema to see that kinds movie. It makes me sick.

Incidentally, I'd like to tell you guys a joke about the translations. Three weeks ago, Avengers: Age of Ultron was on the screen. I went to saw it. That was a phrase but I didn't remember who said that, " son of bitch." And the subtitle showed us that was meaning "old buddy." I was wondering what the hell was going on.

Yes, we have 5,000 years cultures in this country. But a lot of the good things of our culture were destroyed in those ten years what called "Culture Revolution". For now, we believe nothing but money, we have no religions and faith. How many things I can do? I figure that was possible when I was a teacher. So, we do not believe in love or friendship or even family. I feel insecure because I can't feel that kind of love.

But I always believe in love. Always.

P.S. This is my first article that is written by English. I will appreciate that someone would correct for my grammar faults.